I arrived in Hampi two days ago with a wicked sinus infection. I'd been trying to treat it with homeopathic and aryuvedic remedies to no avail. The day before yesterday I got some anti-biotics and have been doing nothing the past two days. Hence, the radio silence. I'll probably venture out late after the heat begins to dissipate. Internet access is very slow here, so no pictures until I get to Bijapur. More soon.

As for my 'Indian Moment.' I got a bit testy with the conductor and then sulked for about twenty minutes. Basically asking myself, "what the hell am I doing here? And how the hell can anyone call this fun? I want to go home." India does that to you. But I got over it pretty quickly. The proximate cause of the outburst was I had been promised an upper berth in the sleeper compartment and didn't get one. I got a lower berth, which is basically community property, no matter if the seat-holder wants to sleep or not. Again, I re-learned the most important lesson there is to learn in India: whatever my expectations are, I should a.) plain not have expectations at all and b.) simply proceed on the assumption that everything will never be as I am told and expect the worst. That's just the way travel in India is. More soon.

One last thing: if I disappear for a few days, fret not. It's just India. Everything is difficult here. And yet, it's an amazing place. I just never know what's going to happen from day to day.